Steven Spielberg Claims Robopocalypse Is Delayed, Not Dead

Everyone calm down! It’s all gonna be OK! By which I mean, that if you were hideously disappointed by the news the other day that Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse had been put on indefinite hold, there is still hope. Mr. Spielberg himself claims that the project has not died, but only changed gears.

Spielberg’s Robopocalypse is based on the book of the same name by Daniel H. Wilson and it was set to begin shooting this summer for an April 2014 release. With a script by Drew Goddard, and starring Anne Hathaway and Chris Hemsworth, it sounded like a done deal. Apparently now it’s in a turnaround though. Spielberg, high on the 12 Oscar nominations for Lincoln, had this to say:

“We found that the film was costing a lot of money and I found a better way to tell the story more economically but also much more personally … I found the personal way into Robopocalypse, and so I just told everybody to go find other jobs, I’m starting on a new script and we’ll have this movie back on its feet soon.”

OK, so that means what exactly? The budget wasn’t there? The script wasn’t there? Don’t tell me that studios were balking at the idea of a big-budget Steven Spielberg production, because I won’t believe it. Let’s assume that this really is just because Spielberg wasn’t happy with the direction the script was taking.

I guess I’ll give Mr. Spielberg the benefit of the doubt. He manages to find a way to tell massive blockbuster stories with a personal edge, so if that’s what he plans to do with this new script, that’s great. Assuming that he holds onto his cast during the delay, this one could be good fun. He does seem very adamant that the film has not died, despite declining to give a timeline for production. So if all goes as planned, production should start back up in no time.

Mr. Spielberg isn’t crying about the Robopocalypsedelay, though. With 12 Oscar nominations for Lincoln, he’s got a lot to gloat about, and the machine uprising is just around the corner.